


what's something that only you can do?

by harunai



Category: Lobotomy Corporation (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Guilt, Pining, Self-Hatred, Whump, and mentions of gory nightmares, due to committing a lot of murder, friend's agent naevius returns again!, gijinka singing machine as always, hey google can a recently-sentient object possess trauma, man i love using those don't i, references to murder and suicide, singing machine is still called mel in this, survey says: yes, very brief descriptions of gore, when ur emotions finally show up and suddenly all that murder u did haunts u for the rest of ur life, when you watch the guy you like sleep and have another crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28465587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harunai/pseuds/harunai
Summary: Emotions were strange. Something that had no physical shape in the world being capable of causing so much pain? It almost sounded like a fictional story.(Takes place after both "thought process" and "don't call my name".)
Relationships: (IMPLIED), Singing Machine (Lobotomy Corporation)/Original Male Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	what's something that only you can do?

**Author's Note:**

> oops more mel. sorry for all the whump!  
> gonna end the year off right!  
> here's a fast fact: in this au, his full name is actually "melodious", but he uses mel because it's less of a mouthful.
> 
> title taken from "outsider" by eve.
> 
> -haru

In, out. In, out. In, out.

As still as a statue, Mel watched Nae's chest rise and fall, steady as can be. Of course, it was due to sleep. Nae could sleep the night away, escaping from the worries of the day into a hopefully-dreamless sleep, while unfortunately, the former Singing Machine wasn't so lucky. His dreams were often painted with the red that once coated the walls of his containment, and he regularly awoke in the middle of the night, hands flying to his mouth to suppress any screams that might try and breach the walls he put up, and awaken Nae inadvertently.

Tonight, though, Mel had decided to forego sleep in favor of watching over the man he called 'beloved'. Being a machine, still, it wasn't like he _needed_ to sleep - It was simply another way to recover lost energy. Nae was usually filled with so much energy, like an inferno - But when he slept, he was nothing but peaceful. A gloved hand reached out, as Mel came close to stroking his cheek with it - but stopped, and retracted his hand soon after. He shouldn't be bothering Nae, anyways. ... Now that he thinks about it, what _has_ he done for Nae? Besides cause problems, of course. 

Oh, and murdering his friends and colleagues. Yeah, can't forget that one. Ever. The Abnormality shivers as he gets up from the bed, moving towards the window. Ah, the shaking's begun to start. He's begun to recognize these things when they happen, and he makes a mental note to research them the next time he can. For now, though, he walks away from the window, leaving the beloved synth behind on the bed as he left the bedroom, as quietly as possible, and shutting the door behind him. It'll at least block some of the sound.

-

When he reaches the table, he pulls out a chair, sitting at it. It's not like this is very private, but the last time he retreated somewhere, in that case, the bathroom, the cramped walls were more than enough to echo and cause enough of a ruckus that Mel had to convince Nae he'd just dropped something.

Once he's steadily seated in the chair, and positive that Nae won't be waking up and coming to investigate, he lets the barriers drop, just a bit, as he tries to compose himself. Ungloved hands quickly move to his mouth, body shaking as he struggles to keep himself quiet. Before these emotions took a firm hold of him, he didn't even know he was capable of crying, but apparently he is. Punishing Bird had told him that this body would be as human-like as it could, and she was spot on about that.

For now, he'd just compose himself, and then go back to bed soon. Nae would probably get worried if Mel didn't return... Hah, what a foolish concern. However, he could handle himself just fine. Just fine. It's not like... he was going to forcibly terminate himself or anything. He had to battle that temptation off several times, and had to tell himself that he wanted to live.

... Maybe taking a short rest out here wouldn't hurt? His eyes were starting to grow heavy, and he really didn't want to be facefirst on the floor in the morning. That was a recipe for tripping and injuries. _(Just a short rest...)_ With that thought in mind, Mel closed his eyes, letting his head droop forward to rest on his bent arms.

-

Still deep in sleep, Mel didn't notice the feeling of someone gently lifting up the synth, and he definitely didn't notice the door to the bedroom opening, not an hour later. Nor the footsteps, walking out of the door, or the shutting of the door.

**Author's Note:**

> reminder to follow ( https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/1045695 ) on pixiv cause it's their singing machine gijinka that inspired all this and the one i have in mind for every single one of my mel | singing machine stories


End file.
